Australians in Hollywood : Biographical Notes

Peter Finch
Peter Finch (1916-1977) was born in London , and arrived in Sydney at the age of 10. As a young man he worked in theatre and appeared in such classic Australian films as Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938). It was Laurence Olivier, touring Australia with his wife Vivien Leigh, who urged Finch to try his hand on the London stage. In the ensuing decades Finch would appear in countless British and American films, including The Nun's Story (1959), Kidnapped (1960) and Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971), for which he received an Oscar nomination. The Sins of Rachel Cade (1960) was a romantic drama set in the Belgian Congo , also starring Angie Dickinson and Roger Moore. Finch's best-known part was his last one, in Network (1976). He died shortly before the 1977 Academy Awards ceremony, at which he was awarded a posthumous best actor Oscar for his performance – the first actor ever to receive that honour posthumously, and the first Australian to win an acting Oscar.

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